The greater israel delusion may undo israel

Moral and philosophical cost

Morally and philosophically, the pursuit of Greater Israel represents not the fulfillment of Jewish history but a profound rupture with it. Classical rabbinic thought ties Jewish sovereignty to ethical restraint and law, while the prophetic tradition judges power by its justice toward the vulnerable and the stranger. A state that defines itself through the permanent domination of other people cannot credibly present itself as the embodiment of that inheritance.

The Greater Israel ideology reduces Judaism to a tribal land claim stripped of universal ethical content. It recasts Jewish memory not as a source of empathy for the dispossessed but as a warrant to dispossess others. This inversion is existentially dangerous because a polity built on institutionalized injustice can command fear but cannot command enduring legitimacy. From this vantage point, the drive toward Greater Israel may mark the beginning of Israel's undoing as a viable state: a citadel corroded from within by the very methods it employs to defend itself.

What allies must do

If Israel's allies-especially the United States and Germany, along with the European Union and the Arab states-are serious about preventing Israel from this self-destructive trajectory, while enhancing the prospect of Palestinian statehood, they must move beyond ritualized concern and empty rhetoric to concrete action.

I do not expect the US administration under Trump nor Germany, which blindly support Israel, to take any concrete action to disabuse the current Netanyahu-led government of pursuing its disastrous design to create Greater Israel. They should remember, however, that their inaction is not only destroying any prospect of an Israeli-Palestinian peace, but they are, in fact, jeopardizing Israel's own security, which they presumably want to safeguard. They are also becoming complicit in Israel's crimes against humanity.

The prospect of a new Israeli government, which may be formed following the upcoming election in October, offers a window of opportunity to pressure it to change course, starting by ending the systematic, brutal ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and the continuing killing and destruction of what's left of infrastructure in Gaza. Here are some of the measures that can be taken immediately to prevent another catastrophe:

These are the minimum measures consistent with the principles Israel's allies claim to uphold elsewhere. The choice is stark: either act now to arrest the Greater Israel project, or become complicit in a permanent regime of domination and severely undermine their geostrategic interests and moral credibility for decades to come.

• Demand an immediate stop to the expansion of settlements and settler terrorism against Palestinians in the West Bank, and condition any military aid on the immediate cessation of annexation of Palestinian land.
• End the transfer of any weapons used to entrench the occupation, as well as sanction the import of any product produced in the settlements, as Canada, the UK, and France have just announced.
• Support international accountability mechanisms, including International Criminal Court investigations and implementation of relevant UN resolutions.
• Although many Western powers recognized the State of Palestine, such recognition is worthless unless they expand financial, political, and legal support for Palestinian civil society, human rights defenders, and nonviolent movements resisting dispossession.
• Coordinate diplomatic pressure through joint démarches, ambassadorial recalls, and downgrading of high-profile visits.
• For the Arab states that are at peace with Israel, they should downgrade their diplomatic missions in Israel and threaten to withdraw their ambassadors if Israel continues with its expansionist policy.